Sunday, February 06, 2011

a little bit of sunshine

arrived in a box yesterday. The last of the Honeybells from Florida, available only in January.
When my parents spent the winters there and we used to visit, my father made orange juice every morning from them. They make the best juice on earth. Every year, my parents used to send a giant box of honeybells and grapefruits every January...more than we needed. After my father died in 1987, my mother continued to send them every year. Then she stopped going to Florida.

They are expensive, so I never treated myself to a box of them. This year, the last chance to order was a bargain, so I decided to do something nice for myself.

What on earth will I do with a couple of dozen honeybells? What was I thinking? Maybe I was just looking for a taste of the past, or some sweetness without calories. I ate one over the sink yesterday (that's what you have to do becasue they are so juicy. Today I took the vintage juicer I grew up with in New Jersey, down from the shelf of collectibles. It is cast aluminum, made in New Britain, CT, probably around 1950. Imagine.

I don't remember my mother ever using it -- she opened cans of Snow Crop Frozen Orange juice and added water. Daddy squeezed oranges. Maybe tomorrow morning I will make some juice for myself.

7 comments:

My mom used to make frozen OJ as well, and always squeezed 2 or 3 fresh oranges into it. I have the old juicer.When my folks were alive they ordered all of us kids fresh citrus - a different fruit arrived each winter month - a whole carton of it! I finally had to ask my mom to send us only a half carton. Even with the kids at home we could never keep up! Those honeybells look scrumptious!

What a wonderfully nostalgic post. I don't think oranges would freeze well but what about making frozen popsicles or ice cubes? Then you could have them later on as just a glass of oj whenever you wanted.

I remember when I was in high school my grandmother sent us a bushel of oranges from Florida, but they ended up on a train! By the time we received them they were all moldy. I remember how mad my Mom was because it was such a waste and with 8 kids they would have come in handy!

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Working hard or hardly working, depending on the day. My kids think I'm a flake, my mother thought it was nice that I had a hobby.
I'm a full time artist who exhibits and sells work, author of Create Your Own Free-Form Quilts and Create Your Own Hand-Printed Cloth. I travel and teach internationally, wherever I am invited.
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